Characteristics of surgical patients with renal dialysis and controls.^*

*<p>Renal dialysis: at least three times per week lasting more than three months for dialysis therapy within the 24-month preoperative period.</p><p>COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CS, caesarean section.</p

Postoperative mortality and complications associated with additional coexisting diseases in surgical patients with preoperative regular dialysis.

*<p>Adjusted for age, sex, teaching hospital, coexisting disease and types of surgery and anesthesia.</p>†<p>The highest quintile of length of stay during the surgical admission (patient percentage for each group belonging to the highest quintile of length of stay [≥18 days] of the total patients as percentage of increased length of stay).</p>‡<p>NA, Not available due to small sample size.</p><p>OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit; NA, not available.</p

Postoperative mortality and complications associated with hypertension or diabetes mellitus in surgical patients with preoperative regular dialysis.^*

*<p>Adjusted for age, sex, teaching hospital, coexisting disease and type of surgery and anesthesia.</p>†<p>The highest quintile of length of stay during the surgical admission (the patient percentage for each group belonged to the highest quintile of length of stay [≥18 days] of the total patients as percentage of increased length of stay).</p><p>OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit.</p

Risk of postoperative 30-day mortality and complications among surgical patients with peritoneal or hemodialysis versus controls.^*

*<p>Adjusted for age, sex, teaching hospital, coexisting disease and type of surgery and anesthesia.</p>†<p>The highest quintile of length of stay during the surgical admission (the patient percentage for each group belonging to the highest quintile of length of stay [≥18 days] of the total patients as percentage of increased length of stay).</p><p>OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit.</p

Risk of 30-day postoperative mortality and complications among controls and patients with preoperative regular dialysis receiving non-cardiac surgery.

*<p>Adjusted for age, sex, teaching hospital, coexisting disease and type of surgery and anesthesia.</p>†<p>Increased length of stay: patients in specific groups who’s length of hospitalization were above the lower limit of the highest quintile of length of stay (≥18 days in this study) among the overall patients and divided by number of patients in each group as the percent of increased length of stay.</p><p>OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit.</p

Effect of LY294002(LY) or U0126(U) on the anti-apoptotic activity of TCDD.

<p>Beas2B cells were pretreated with 10 µM LY or 100 nM U for 1 h, then treated with TCDD (10 nM) for 4 h, followed by 100 nM STS for 2 h. (A) The expression of p-ERK1/2, ERK1/2, p-Akt, and Akt in different treatment groups was determined by western blotting analysis. Representative data from one of three independent experiments are shown. (B) The level of apoptosis after treatment with LY or U was measured by Annexin V staining and analyzed by flow cytometry, and the quantified results are shown (C). The data represent the mean ± SEM of three independent experiments; *<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the control (Con) group; #<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the STS-treated group, †<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the TCDD + STS group.</p

The prevalence and tumor multiplicity of lung tumor formation in female A/J mice.

<p>*Significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) compared to Control groups.</p>†<p>Significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) compared to TCDD groups.</p>‡<p>Significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) compared to NNK(L) groups.</p><p>The incidence and multiplicity of lung tumor formation in female A/J mice treated with low-dose NNK [NNK(L)], high-dose NNK [NNK(H)], TCDD, and TCDD combined with NNK(L). Tumor incidence is provided as the number of animals with tumors divided by the total number of animals at risk (%). Tumor multiplicity is the average tumor number observed in tumor-bearing mice. The data for lung tumor multiplicity are given as the mean ± SEM. *significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) than the control group; ^†significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) than the TCDD group; ^‡significantly higher (<i>p</i><0.05) than the NNK(L) group.</p

Effect of STS, TCDD or the combination on the expression of AKT and regulatory factors.

<p>(A) Beas2B cells were treated with TCDD (0.5, 2.5, or 10 nM) alone or in combination with STS, and the activation of Akt was determined by detecting phosphorylated Akt. The membranes were probed with an anti-Akt antibody to confirm equal protein loading. (B) The fold induction of phosphorylated Akt was quantitated and is represented by the mean ± SEM of three results in each group. *<i>p</i><0.05, significantly higher than STS group. The fold change was corrected for the amount of Akt loaded. (C) The protein levels of p-PI3K, PI3K, p-PDK1, and p-PTEN were analyzed by western blot following treatment with TCDD alone or in combination with STS. (D) Beas2B cells were treated with STS alone or TCDD in combination with STS for the indicated time, and the cell lysates were then isolated and immunoblotted with anti-p-Akt, Akt, p-PI3K, PI3K, p-PDK1, and p-PTEN antibodies. The membranes were probed with an anti-GAPDH antibody to confirm equal protein loading. Representative data from one of three independent experiments are shown.</p

Experimental design.

<p>Female A/J mice were divided into 5 groups. Group 1 is the control group, in which mice were given normal saline once a week for 4 weeks. Group 2 is the low-dose NNK group (NNKL), in which mice were treated with NNK (1 mg/0.1 ml/mouse, i.p.) in week 1 of the experiment. Group 3 received a single injection of high-dose NNK (2 mg/0.1 ml/mouse, NNK(H)). Group 4 received a loading dose of TCDD (5 µg kg b.w., i.p.) in week 2 and a maintenance dose of TCDD (1.42 µg kg b.w., i.p) 3 times a week starting in week 3 for 3 weeks. Group 5 received a single injection of low-dose NNK [NNK(L)] in week 1 of the experiment, followed by a loading dose of TCDD and a maintenance dose of TCDD similar to that of group 4. The experiment was terminated at week 30 to evaluate lung tumor formation.</p

TCDD-attenuated STS-induced apoptosis in Beas2B cells.

<p>Beas2B cells were pretreated with TCDD (T, 0.5, 2.5, or 10 nM) for 4 h followed by 100 nM staurosporine (STS) for 2 h. (A) The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by Annexin V staining and analyzed by flow cytometry. Mean ± SEM; n = 3; *<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the control (Con) group; #<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the STS treatment alone group. (B) Beas2B cells treated with 0.5, 2.5, or 10 nM TCDD for 4 h alone (left panel) or followed by 100 nM STS for 2 h (right panel). The expression of the apoptotic regulators Bad, PARP, cleaved caspase-3 and -9 and the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-xl and Bcl-2 were analyzed by western blotting analysis. (C) Beas2B cells were treated with STS alone (left panel) or pretreated with TCDD followed by STS treatment for the indicated time, and cell lysates were then isolated and immunoblotted with anti-Bad, Bcl-xl, and Bcl-2 antibodies. The membranes were probed with an anti-GAPDH antibody to confirm equal protein loading. Representative data from one of three independent experiments are shown. (D) Beas2B cells were treated with DMSO (control, Con), 10 nM TCDD, 100 nM STS, or pretreated with TCDD for 4 h followed by STS treatment for 24 h (T+S). Cells were incubated with DiOC₆ for 15 min, and the loss of mitochondria membrane potential levels were detected by flow cytometry. The upper panel indicated fluorescence histogram of Beas2B cells stained with DiOC₆. The filled tracing indicated the control groups. The open tracing with blue, green, and red lines indicated the TCDD groups, STS groups, and TCDD+STS groups, respectively. Histograms depicted all the acquired events. The lower panel indicated the quantification of cells with depolarized mitochondria. Numbers refer to the percentage of apoptotic cells in each sample. Mean ± SEM; n = 3; *<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the Con group; #<i>p</i><0.05 compared with the STS treatment alone group.</p